May 6, 2023
Day 80: Rozaje to Bijelo Polje
Bliss on a rural Montenegro road
“Where did you come from today?” asks the man from reception. “Rozaje,” we answer with a bit of trouble remembering the name of the town. “That’s very good for your age,” he adds. After he leaves Rachel asks Patrick what he thought about that. "It's alright coming from a 24year old." Patrick says. Rachel has been used to being addressed as “mama or grandma” particularly in Africa also in India on our RTW tour. Memory from Zambia 2015: "Grandma, what you need?" says the man selling toilet paper at the Lusaka bus station to Rachel as she waits by the bus luggage compartment with the bikes. While in Africa she's been called mama and madame, this is a first.
The Hotel breakfast is superb with Omelet and cheese, juice and coffee, and bread. Also served is a plate of thick tomato slices and black olives that we didn’t even try to eat. “I’m still full from last night’s dinner,” Patrick confesses. He ate the whole plate of chicken schnitzel, thick potato slices, grilled zucchini and peppers, and salad.
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The first 5km are on the main road and at a slight incline. We reach the turnoff to P20 and start a 5% climb for the next 6km. This is a quiet road and as we pass by we get glimpses of life in rural Montenegro: a man chopping wood, a woman with a bucket headed to the barn, hearing a chain saw in the forest, laundry hanging from the second floor balcony, and cows in the meadow. The 6km is bliss through a forest and views of the snow covered mountains. At close to the high point, there is a road side water fountain and a park around a war monument. If camping, this would be a great spot.
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11 months ago
We reach the junction to Petjnica. There is a 9% grade sign, not a welcome sight after 12km of downhill. But it is short. Around the bend is the next turnoff to the main road between Berane and Bijelo Polje and we stop to eat our second breakfast of an omelet sandwich. We watch a policeman at the intersection periodically stop cars by waving a stop sign. Those he knows he waves and shakes hands, those he doesn’t he asks for license and registration.
After that the road continues as a general decline with a few bumps. We ride through a gorge that is now a gravel collection center. There are huge piles of gravel, and gravel trucks. At 40km we are back to the main road for the last 24km.
On the country road we had maybe 5 cars pass us, now back to the main road the quiet is gone. The traffic isn’t bad, but the contrast with the morning ride and now reminds us of how much has changed since first touring. There are so many more people and people with cars. Patrick notices many of the cars have Luxembourg license plates. We wonder what the connection is?
After another 10km of a “flat hill”, we stop for a break and ice cream. Across the road there is a cemetery and an interesting orthodox Christian church.
We are following the Lim River downstream. Reaching the town, Patrick navigates us to Hotel Dominus. Our bikes are in a room downstairs, and the gear carried up only one story up. The reception guy helps us carrying up the gear to the room, and we settle in clean up and relax.
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Patrick goes shopping to get some bread for the ham and cheese, beer and potato chips for our lunch. When he comes back to the room he says, “I was looking, looking,” then man pointed out the brown bread like he knew what Patrick wanted to buy.
We are beginning to look at the time left of the tour and what the route will need to be to ride into Ossendrecht Holland around June 10. Patrick is looking at different options to what sections to skip by taking trains or possibly renting a car.
Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 2,846 km (1,767 miles)
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